Bringing the Outdoors In: Making Mini Snow People

A winter craft that will melt your heart

February 16, 2016
by Kris Antonius

If you've read any of my other articles here at EcoParent you'll know that I am a huge proponent of kids spending time outdoors. Whether that means time in the backyard, the park down the street, a farm, or wildnerness area, I'm a true believer in the benefits – to kids and to our planet – of connecting with nature. That said, there are days here in frosty Winnipeg, Manitoba where the gauge dips down below -30 C (which can mean -40 C with the windchill!). There are very few days when we don't send our littles outside – even if for only 15 minutes at a time – yet on those -40 days it is always nice to have some ideas in mind for how to bring the outdoors in. A mini snow person station is one of those ideas!

Set up your station:

Before inviting your kiddos to create some cool little snow people, grab the following items and set them out...

Get crafting!

If you've ever made an outdoor snow person, making these mini snow folks will be intuitive. Here are the steps:

Use the scoops to make the snow person's body, going from larger to smaller scoops.

Once you have a body, decorate your snow person to give them arms, a face, maybe a scarf and whatever else your littles dream up.

Optional: Add watercolour paint to your snow person – do this in addition to step 2 or skip step 2 and make a tye-dyed style snow person!

For your very yougest who might not enjoy or be ready for the mini snow people, try setting up a slightly larger rubbermaid sensory snow bin for them with snow, scoops, little animals, characters and more. Lay a towel or two under and around the bin for easy clean up! Enjoy!

Kris Antonius has a crew of four budding naturalists ages 5, 8, 12, and 15 – three of whom she spends her days with, focused on simple living, learning, making, and eating. A former educator, and huge fan of child-led learning, Kris learns alongside her children about nature, hand-crafting, homesteading, and growing, cooking and eating good food. You can follow her homeschooling and urban-homesteading adventures at www.tinypeasant.com.

EcoParent is a quarterly magazine for families that want to make healthier, greener lifestyle choices. Fun and inspirational in tone – and never judgmental – we appeal to the already eco-savvy, but remain accessible to the newly eco-curious. Food, fashion, books, travel, health & beauty, home & garden, and so much more!